Turkish electoral authorities on Wednesday recounted votes in more than a dozen Istanbul districts after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP challenged results giving the opposition a narrow victory in a weekend election. The AKP won most votes nationwide in Sunday’s municipal ballot, but tallies also showed the party lost the capital Ankara and the country’s economic hub Istanbul in one of its worst setbacks in a decade and a half in power. AKP officials on Tuesday filed a challenge with electoral authorities saying they had found irregularities in ballots in both Ankara and Istanbul.

The first phase of so-called indicative votes held on March 27 did not show majority support for any options, but lawmakers hope a second round, likely on a narrower range of options, could see parliament coalesce behind a way forward. Since the last round of votes, May’s deal has been rejected for a third time. Last week, speaker John Bercow selected eight Brexit options to be put to a vote, from a list of 16 proposals put forward by lawmakers.

British Prime Minister Theresa May would have to look closely at pursuing a customs union with the European Union if parliament votes for it, justice minister David Gauke said on Sunday. In a first round, the idea of seeking a customs union with the European Union was one of the most popular options, although it fell just short of a majority. Asked by BBC TV whether May would have to go back to the EU and negotiate for a customs union if parliament voted for it, Gauke said: “I think she would need to look very closely at that.” “If parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favor of a softer Brexit, then I don’t think it is sustainable to say we will ignore parliament’s position and leave without a deal.” Gauke also said May’s three-times defeated deal was not dead, and was still one of the options open to lawmakers.

Theresa May is still fighting to get her twice-rejected deal through Parliament and has a stark warning for lawmakers: Back the agreement or risk a long delay to Brexit. Key Developments:Parliament to debate delaying Brexit. Votes expected after 5 p.m.Speaker John Bercow chose four amendments.

The U.K. Parliament defeated Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit proposal for the second time on Tuesday.Members nixed the proposal in a 391–242 vote, a smaller margin than the 432–202 defeat it suffered in January. The move sets up another crucial vote on Wednesday, in which MPs will decide whether to move forward with Brexit on March 29 despite the lack of a Parliament-approved agreement between the U.K. and the E.U. The outcome of that vote could then prompt a vote to delay Brexit.Conservative MPs, only 75 of whom voted against the plan this time after 118 of them voted against it in January, will be able to vote freely going forward, May promised."This is an issue of grave importance for the future of our country," May said. "Just like the [abortion] referendum there are strongly held and equally legitimate views on both sides."The prime minister warned members from both sides of the aisle not to make the "perfect the enemy of the good.""The government has been defeated again by an enormous majority and it must accept its deal is clearly dead and does not have the support of this House," said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose party voted against the deal. "The prime minister has run down the clock and the clock has been run out on her. Maybe it's time instead we had a general election and the people can choose who their government should be."“I am passionate about delivering the result of the referendum, but I equally passionately believe that the best way to do that is to leave in an orderly way with a deal and I still believe there is a majority in the House for that course of action," May said.Opponents of Brexit have warned that leaving without a plan will throw Britain's economy into turmoil, while backers have dismissed those concerns as exaggerated.

The House of Representatives has passed a resolution condemning antisemitism and other forms of hate amid a row involving a Muslim congresswoman that exposed a sharp division between the Democratic Party’s establishment and its younger, more progressive members. The measure passed by the House 407-23, condemned antisemitism as “hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values and aspirations that define the people of the United States”. The passing of the resolution – support for which came from a number of Jewish members of Congress – followed a row among Democrats over remarks made by congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who last year become one of the two first Muslim women elected to congress.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to revoke Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to build a wall on the border with Mexico, handing the president a stinging rebuke on his signature issue. In a 245-182 vote, the Democratic-majority House rejected Trump’s assertion that he could use money for the wall that Congress had appropriated for other purposes.

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May is proposing that parliament votes on whether to leave the European Union without a deal or delay Brexit if her exit deal fails to win parliamentary approval, a Daily Telegraph reporter said on Twitter. "The PM (Prime Minister) has said there will be a three line whip on an amendable motion tomorrow that will commit to two votes on March 12th in the event that her deal fails," Telegraph reporter Steven Swinford wrote, citing details of an ongoing cabinet meeting. …